Steeler fans who believe that 2020 will be better than 2019 are living in “La-La Land.” This defense is "as good as the Steel Curtain"?

Lest they forget

la-la land noun

\ ˈlä-ˌlä-

Definition of la-la land

1 : a euphoric, dreamlike mental state detached from the harsher realities of life

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I remember seeing this comment after one of the eight games the Pittsburgh Steelers won in 2019:

That defense is awesome! They are as good as the Steel Curtain.

Anonymous Steeler fan in La-La Land

My reaction? The person who wrote that obviously never saw the Steel Curtain. They have a Joe Greene? Or a total package of Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White, or Ernie Holmes?

Duh.

Do they have any linebackers who are like Jack Lambert or Jack Ham, both of whom are now NFL Hall of Famers? Watt is good, and Bush looks like he could be good, too.

But, Hall of Famers?

And yes, Joe Haden and Minkah Fitzpatrick both had five interceptions. Fitzpatrick had some very good games for a rookie. But, are they comparable to Mel Blount and Donnie Shell, both Hall of Famers?

Granted, some of these players are young, but the defense is not even close to the Steel Curtain -- or that of a decade ago, the early 2000s.

Compare to the last Super Bowl winners

The last time that the Steelers won a Super Bowl, which Mike Tomlin did with Bill Cowher’s defense after the 2008 season, they did it with their “D.”

For example, the biggest play of the game was not the pass from Roethlisberger to Holmes at the end of the game. It was the fabulous 100-yard return of an interception by linebacker James Harrison, which was in effect a 14-point turnaround in that game.

Harrison and Troy Polamalu, now a Hall of Famer, were NFL Defensive Players of the Year during that run of two Super Bowl appearances.

Do the Steelers actually have any players as good as Polamalu — or who may be that good? Of course not. And Harrison’s return demonstrated how fabulous an athlete he was. To say nothing of his work ethic.

The argument for the defense?

I can hear the La-La Landers: But, they were ranked fifth in the NFL.

Good point. Here is my rebuttal.

First, they played some really horrible teams, or bad teams, like the Bengals twice, the Chargers, the Dolphins, the Cardinals, and the Jets — losing to some of them.

Compare that to how poorly they did against the better teams.

In the first three games of the season, that Steeler defense allowed 465 yards to the Patriots, 425 to the Seahawks, and 436 to the 49ers, all very good playoffs teams, one a Super Bowl runner-up. Sandwich that with the final game of the season when the Ravens, playing without their MVP quarterback and many top producers, shredded them for 223 yards on the ground, 304 total.

The point? The Steeler D performed well again the weaker teams. Eight of their opponents had losing records, and they gave up over 300 totals yards to the Colts and Rams, along with 348 to the Chargers.

In addition, as Tunch Ilkin mentioned repeatedly on the radio broadcasts, particularly when the defense was giving up big numbers to teams, the Steelers have spent the last six number one draft picks on defensive players — and make that seven since they gave up their number 1 pick this year to the Dolphins for Fitzpatrick.

Some of them were good — Devin Bush in 2019 may be very good — but Terrill Edmunds is just decent [particularly when Lamar Jackson was available], Artie Burns was terrible, and Bud Dupree took four years before he gave them one good season.

No, Virginia, there is not a Steel Curtain in that locker room right now.

So, what are the Steelers’ primary problems in 2020?

Putting coaching aside for now, and they definitely have major difficulties there … and injuries, since that was a problem [though it was for other teams like the Eagles who made the playoffs and won a game] …

In looking at personnel, the Steelers have major problems on offense. These actually start with the offensive line, which is aging and has demonstrated its lack of consistency throughout the season.

For instance, guard David DeCastro, who has been very good as a #1 pick, is 30 as is Maurkice Pouncey, who has been a good number 1 selection, too, but both have shown that they have slowed down quite a bit.

Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is now 31, even though he does not have the years on him — 6 —because of his time serving in the U.S. Army.

Ramon Foster, who may not even be back, has 12 years of experience and is now 34.

Matt Feiler, a graduate of Div. II Bloomsburg, was a full-time starter for the first time in his fourth season last year, and he is now 27.

Now, take a look at the 2019 offensive production. Granted, the QB situation was very unpredictable, but in reality, those two backups had a record of 8-6, while Ben Roethlisberger had a record of 0-2 and a QB rating of 65.

However, the disturbing factor was the lack of a running game. Granted, James Conner has demonstrated that he may be injury-prone, something that I pointed to when he was drafted that high. I love James, but he has not been on the field enough.

Nevertheless, with Jaylen Samuels showing at times that he can be effective, the Steelers had only five games in which they had more than 100-yards rushing — as a team. That is woeful, especially when the young QBs need to take some pressure off themselves.

The offense was ranked 30th in the league in yardage, passing for almost 3,000 yards and rushing for just 1,447.

Even worse, the Steelers never scored 30 or more points in a game all season. They managed only 27 against the Bengals and Dolphins, their best performances.

There were some positives. Both Diontae Johnson [59 catches for 680 yards and five TDs] and James Washington [44 for 735 and three TDs] have demonstrated that they have some good potential. If JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had just 42 catches for 552 years and three TDs, returns to his 2018 form, then the passing game could be effective.

Which brings up to the major problem: Quarterback.

Did Roethliberger have Tommy John surgery? Or does it even matter?

When pitchers in baseball learn that they have to have Tommy John surgery, they are despondent. Here is one reason that they fear the ulnar collateral ligament tear:

In general, athletes may not be ready to throw or pitch competitively for nine to 12 months after surgery. With current surgical techniques, the success rate of Tommy John surgery is 80 to 90 percent.

“Tommy John Surgery In-Depth,” Boston Children’s Hospital.

Now, the question is whether or not Roethlisberger actually had that type of surgery. He denied it at first, but when asked about the truth about it this week, Steeler GM Kevin Colbert did not acknowledge what kind of surgery it was,

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert is optimistic that Ben Roethlisberger's rehab is going in the right direction and said he doesn't think the veteran quarterback "is at the end of the road."

Roethlisberger, who will turn 38 next month, had surgery on Sept. 23 to repair a season-ending elbow injury he suffered in Week 2. Colbert would neither confirm nor deny that Roethlisberger had Tommy John surgery, but said he remains on track in his rehab and has a checkup in Los Angeles on Feb. 21.

"All signs are good at this point, and where that goes, we're hopeful he can make a complete recovery," Colbert said. "As of right now, he's on schedule for that. Where it goes from here remains to be seen."

Brooke Pryor, “Steelers GM: Rehabbing Ben Roethliberger not at the end,” 

ESPN, Feb. 12, 2020

If he did not have that kind of surgery, why not just say it?

Or, does he even know?

Challenge

In any case, regardless of the kind of surgery, this is obviously going to take time, and with a 38-year-old QB, why not just ask him to retire and begin the process of replacing him?

Mason Rudolph looked to be making progress until the debacle in Cleveland with Myles Garrett, who punched the defenseless QB who was not wearing a helmet.

Then, they experimented with “The Duck,” who gave a breath of hope before being shot out of the air by opposing defenses.

Result

So, to the fans in La-Land who say, “Ben will be back, and we will be back in the Super Bowl,” I say, this:

The Steelers are so far away from the Super Bowl, and in reality, have not been close to it since the last one, a loss to Green Bay, which is ten years ago.

Coaching

I have also said — and hope that I am wrong, but know better — that the Steelers will never win another Super Bowl as long as Mike Tomlin is the coach. I have not seen anything to change my mind on that.

And, as I have said previously, I was a big Tomlin fan in his younger years. But, since he has dispensed with discipline, things have gone downhill — and the future, based on the offense with a woeful offensive coordinator, one who is supposed to be developing QBs — and we saw little of that last year.

Losing line coach Mike Munchak was a major problem, and he left because of the drama that occurred under Tomlin. That OL really needed him last year, and it could have been part of the reason for its woeful play — particularly in the running game.

No #1 pick

Add to this that the Steelers gave up their number 1 pick to Miami for Fitzpatrick, and the future is glum. If Roethlisberger would retire, that would free up cap space and could give them time to actually start rebuilding that offense, which would be a great move in the right direction.

But, with the current coaching staff, I do not see that happening.

Overly optimistic in 2019, even after debacle of ’18

I picked them to win 11 games last year, and even if Roethlisberger had stayed healthy, that was too optimistic. Remember that they collapsed in 2018 at the end of the season, losing to the Broncos and Raiders, woeful teams that year, on the road. And, it was a season in which they had a QB who threw for 5,000 yards, but who choked late in the season, costing them a playoff spot.

So, without looking at a schedule, I would say that 8-8 is a likely spot for next season. Way too early to call, but I see little reason for optimism.

Next call: Do the Steelers need a new CEO/president?

Short answer: Yes.

The Super Bowls were ones that resulted from the Dan Rooney years, and in the past decade, the Steelers have consistently gone downhill to this stage.

Remember that the Art Rooney II family has control of only 30 percent of the team, and can probably count on less than 50 percent of them for support.

So, we will see.

Never thought that I would say that the Steelers should look beyond the Rooney family, but now, I am not so sure — and I go back to 1955.